HUN-REN SZTAKI leading the efforts for offline and online data architecture and data security in the newly started Horizon Europe DiGreeS project aiming at providing novel digital solutions for the Green Steel Value Chain

The consortium "Demonstration of Digital Twins for a Green Steel Value Chain", or DiGreeS for short, launched on 1 November 2024, aims to promote the sustainable development of the European steel industry by coordinating the joint activities of a total of eleven European partner institutions, mainly through the application of smart manufacturing and digital twin solutions. Several departments of the HUN-REN SZTAKI are involved in the project: cooperation within the institute creates the opportunity to achieve synergy between technological security and innovative solutions.

DiGreeS addresses the needs of green and sustainable steel production in Europe by implementing an integrated digitalisation approach across the steel value chain, enabling better use of process data collected and ensuring the involvement of human experience for easier industrial integration. DiGreeS will develop a user-friendly digital platform for networked production based on novel and soft sensors and related approaches and models, artificial intelligence techniques, to support efficient feedstock verification and real-time control of electric arc furnace crude steel production, increasing process yield while improving the quality of intermediate and final steel products.

The role of HUN-REN SZTAKI in the project is also important for two institutional departments. The staff of the Research Laboratory on Engineering and Management Intelligence will implement suitable communication interfaces, structure data sets, and network local data archives for offline and online data sharing among industrial use-case parties and modelling experts.

And the expertise of the Network Security and Internet Technologies Department ensures that it is secure under industrial conditions, i.e. that external factors and IT threats do not affect production efficiency. Moreover, HUN-REN SZTAKI will provide to the project its HUN-REN Cloud research infrastructure (7000+ vCPU, 30+ TB RAM, 1000+ TB storage, 70+ GPU card) for data collection and distribution.

The official website of the project can be found here: https://digrees-horizon.eu/ The total budget of the DiGreeS project is nearly 5 million Euros. The project's contribution to HUN-REN SZTAKI is coordinated by Dr. Elisabeth Zudor, Director’s Advisor, Head of EU projects management group. The work will last until April 2028.